13 Double Disaster - My Sister the Vampire (14 page)

‘Oh, would you please stop scowling?’ Sophia demanded, shaking her head at Ivy. ‘What if this style is the “new me”?’

‘It can’t be!’ Frantically, Ivy waved from the latest skater-girl to Sophia. ‘They all look exactly the same. Just think about that.’

‘No,
you
think about it.’ Sophia slid her sunglasses down her nose and glared at Ivy. ‘You seem to want me to look just the same as every other goth. How is that any
different? Are you, of all people, seriously going to force another person to look a certain way? Just because it’s the way
you
look? Because, if you are, then . . . there’s
really no difference between you and Amelia Thompson.’

Ivy stared at her friend, her jaw slack.

Sophia nudged her sunglasses back into place. Smiling serenely, she followed the line as it shuffled forwards yet again as one more skater clone strode proudly out of the salon. Numbly, Ivy
turned and followed after.

I can’t stay and watch
, she thought.

But Sophia was right: this decision was hers to make.

High school is pretty challenging
, Ivy thought miserably. Her best friend was making a drastic mistake, all the social rules had been turned upside-down . . .

Things had seemed so much less serious back in eighth grade!

The next morning, Ivy couldn’t stop clicking
refresh
on her emails in between checking her phone. Still no messages from Sophia.
Is she giving me the cold
shoulder?

Ivy didn’t even know if they’d had a proper falling-out!
It didn’t feel like it . . . but maybe that’s only by middle school rules. Maybe by high school rules, I
really offended her.

As Ivy checked her phone one more time, she finally asked herself the real question she’d been dreading:
Are we even friends any more?

‘Why so glum?’

Ivy gave a start as Olivia’s beaming face suddenly filled the computer screen, courtesy of the Lonely Echo messaging system.

‘I have never been so glad to see you!’ Ivy felt tears burn at the back of her eyes. ‘I really need help.’

Olivia’s smile turned into a concerned frown. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘It’s Sophia.’ Ivy spilled out the whole story of their friend’s transformation, ending with the madness at the mall. As she explained, she watched Olivia’s face go
pale with horror.

‘A blonde pixie-cut?’ Olivia gasped. ‘That’s crazy!’

‘That’s what I said!’ Ivy swallowed hard. ‘But she just thought I was trying to force her into being a Goth Clone. Like I wasn’t respecting her
individuality.’

‘It has nothing to do with individuality,’ Olivia said. ‘Sophia just doesn’t have the colouring for blonde hair. It would look completely unnatural on her. It would make
her look sallow! And, with the shape of her face, a pixie-cut is the least flattering style I can imagine. And she looks awesome just as she is!’

‘I
knew
you’d find the right words to explain it.’ Ivy smiled wearily. ‘I could have used you yesterday.’

‘But I wasn’t there.’ Olivia bit her lip, looking away. ‘I’m so sorry . . .’

‘Don’t be.’ Ivy shrugged, looking down at her silent phone. ‘It’s
my
fault, for not being able to talk her out of it.’

Her twin sighed. ‘From what you’ve said, I’m not sure
anyone
could have talked Sophia out of it, if she was really determined to impress this “Finn” boy.
She’s never had a major crush before, has she?’

‘No,’ Ivy said.

Olivia shrugged. ‘Then this one must be hitting her extra-hard.’

‘It’s probably just a phase, though, right?’ Ivy twirled the bat-ring on her finger nervously. ‘I mean, most girls grow out of their first crushes pretty quickly,
don’t they?’

‘Um . . .’ Olivia looked meaningfully at the ring Ivy was twirling on her finger . . . a ring given to her by Brendan. ‘Maybe
some
girls do,’ she said.

Ivy followed Olivia’s gaze to her finger and groaned, letting go of her ring as if it had burned her. ‘You’re right! My first crush was Brendan, all those years ago, and yours
–’

‘– was Jackson,’ Olivia finished softly.

They looked at each other, wide-eyed. Then they both began to laugh.

‘I guess we’re hardly ones to talk,’ said Olivia

Ivy leaned back in her chair, idly picking up a glass of Strawberry HemoGlobules and taking a long sip through her ruby-red straw. ‘So,’ she said, ‘speaking of Jackson,
how’s everything going on-set?’

‘Honestly?’ Olivia let out a groan and tipped her head into her hands.

Ivy winced and set down her drink. ‘That bad?’

‘The work is great,’ Olivia said, her voice muffled by her hands. ‘The work is fabulous. But
Jackson
. . .’

Ivy’s shoulders stiffened. She could feel the beginnings of a death-squint. ‘What has he done?’

‘Nothing,’ Olivia said, her eyes filled with frustration. ‘That’s the problem. He took me on a boat ride yesterday down the Thames.’

Sitting back, Ivy raised her eyebrows. ‘Sounds . . . romantic?’

‘Well, I thought so,’ Olivia said. ‘I thought he was going to
say
something romantic, or make some kind of declaration. But it turned out . . . he just wanted to go on
the boat ride!’

Ivy grimaced sympathetically. ‘So what now?’

‘Now we’re in London for just one more day before production goes on a break,’ Olivia said. ‘Then he’ll be going back to Hollywood, and I’ll be coming home.
And
nothing
will have changed!’

Ivy frowned. ‘You’re not done with shooting yet, are you?’

‘But when we start shooting again, we’ll be doing scenes without each other!’ Olivia slumped. ‘I know you think film sets must be great, but they’re a lot less fun
without the boy you love.’

Ivy fought to keep her mouth from dropping open. In her lap, her phone began to ring for the first time in twenty-four hours. She’d been waiting all day to hear that sound . . . but now
she ignored it.

Did Olivia even realise she’d just finally let slip her true feelings?

‘Olivia . . .’ she began, as her phone vibrated beside her. It shook harder and harder with every ring. By the fourth ring, it was vibrating so hard, it was practically doing a jig
on the table.

‘Don’t worry,’ Olivia said. Sighing, she straightened. ‘I can hear your phone ringing, and I have to get to make-up now, anyway. We’ll talk later.’

‘Are you sure?’ Ivy asked. ‘If you need to talk now –’

But her twin just gave a sad wave before flicking off her webcam.

Ivy let out a groan of frustration.
Talk about awful timing!

‘Yes?’ she snapped into her cell phone. ‘What is it?’

‘Ivy . . .’ It was Brendan, and he didn’t sound happy either. ‘You need to get over here. Fast.’

‘Where are you?’ Ivy was already starting up from her computer desk and hunting for her boots in her messy bedroom. ‘What’s wrong?’

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the tip of one black boot peeking out from under her bed. She dived for it just as Brendan answered:

‘I’m in the Lincoln Vale skatepark.’

Ivy groaned. With her head still halfway under her bed, she asked, ‘Is Sophia there?’

‘For now.’ Brendan’s tone was grim. ‘But, pretty soon, she’ll be in the emergency room if she keeps falling off that skateboard.’

Ivy pulled herself up to sit on the cluttered floor by the bed, leaving the boot lying abandoned nearby. ‘I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to show up there,’ she
mumbled, drawing her knees up to her chest. ‘I don’t think Sophia wants to see me right now. We’re . . . we’re not exactly best friends at the moment.’

‘Stop talking nonsense.’ Brendan’s words rapped out, making Ivy gasp.

She’d never heard him sound so tough on her before!

He barely paused for breath before continuing. ‘
One
: yesterday was hardly World War 3. You had a fight – so what? You’ve been best friends for years!’

‘But she’s really mad at me,’ Ivy whispered.

‘And
two
,’ Brendan continued, ‘it doesn’t matter how mad either of you might be right now. You are too good a friend to let Sophia humiliate herself
again!’

Ivy breathed in deeply.
He’s right
, she realised. Maybe Sophia would be mad that she’d come. Maybe they’d even have another fight. But they had been friends for too long
to let one fight change everything.

‘OK,’ said Ivy, grabbing her boot from under the bed. She found its twin by the chest of drawers, already pointing at the door. ‘I’ll be there as fast as I can,’
she promised.

. . . Or, as fast as the bus will take me!

Half an hour later, she was crossing the park at top speed, aiming for Gingham Central – the skatepark. She came to a dead halt when she caught sight of Sophia.

What does she think she’s doing?

Looking more confident on her skateboard than Ivy had ever seen her before, Sophia zoomed straight off the edge of one of the skatepark’s concrete canyons. She looped through mid-air in a
fast somersault that made Ivy’s heart lurch. A moment later, she landed – almost perfectly.

Wow.
Ivy drew a deep breath, feeling relief shudder through her.
OK, maybe Sophia
won’t
end up in the ER after all.

She started forwards . . . but Sophia hadn’t finished. She flashed a quick look at Finn from underneath her newly blonde fringe, then launched herself forwards again, flinging herself into
the air off the top of the canyon. This time, her loop soared even higher. She gripped the sides of her skateboard to carry it with her as she flew . . .

But skateboards hadn’t been designed for vampire strength.

Beneath Sophia’s grip, the skateboard snapped with a crack that echoed through the park.

With a shriek, Ivy started running. But even her vampire speed would not have got her there in time.

As the two pieces fell apart, Sophia tumbled through the air and landed hard on her back in the grass nearby.

Ivy and Brendan were the first to reach her, as people ran from all over the park.

‘Sophia!’ Ivy bent over her friend, shaking with panic.

‘I’m OK,’ Sophia mumbled, her eyes flickering open. She gave Ivy a weak smile as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. ‘Seriously.’

‘Thank darkness.’ Ivy let out her breath. Then she lowered her voice to a hiss. ‘
What were you thinking?
’

Before Sophia could answer, though, Finn came running.

‘Are you OK? I’ve never seen a skateboard snap like that!’ He picked up the broken pieces, shaking his head while his followers gathered around him to stare at the evidence.
‘Talk about amateur workmanship!’

‘Oh . . . right!’ Sophia’s eyes widened as she gazed up at Finn. ‘And I’m fine. Absolutely fine!’

Over Sophia’s shoulder, Brendan met Ivy’s gaze. She sighed and gave him a discreet nod.
We lucked out
, she admitted to herself. All the skaters gathering round were blaming
the skateboard. It hadn’t even occurred to them that Sophia might have been super-strong.

But didn’t Sophia even realise what a close call it had been? What she’d done hadn’t just put herself at risk – it had put
every
vampire at risk! She’d
nearly exploded vampire secrets wide open . . . but she was so busy looking starry-eyed at Finn, she didn’t even seem to have noticed.

Gritting her teeth, Ivy grabbed Sophia’s arm. ‘Come on,’ she growled. ‘We need to get you home.’

‘No way. I’m fine!’ Sophia tried to yank her arm away, but she couldn’t help wincing.

‘You’re definitely bruised, and you need a rest.’ Brendan took Sophia’s other arm.

Pouting, Sophia stopped resisting. As Ivy and Brendan drew her away from the broken pieces of the skateboard, she whispered, ‘What are you
doing?
Couldn’t you see? Finn was
talking to me
! Isn’t that fantastic?’

‘
Fantastic?
’ Ivy had to drop Sophia’s arm before she could give in and shake her own best friend by the shoulders. ‘He was talking to you because you had hurt
yourself
 
!’

Sophia gave a wistful sigh. ‘He was worried about me. Wasn’t that sweet of him?’